


anchor points

by nightwideopen



Category: Marvel, One Direction (Band)
Genre: A world where civil war and infinty war never happened, Action, Almost but not quite, Canon Compliant, Comic Clint, Established Relationship, Fluff, MCU Bucky, Mentions of Violence, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Off Screen Gun Fight, Polyamory, Relationship Discussions, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 08:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightwideopen/pseuds/nightwideopen
Summary: In which it's Bucky's birthday and things don't go as planned.





	anchor points

**Author's Note:**

  * For [1000_directions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1000_directions/gifts).



> Happy birthday Steph! I'm the mysterious anon that wanted you to build your own fic and you left me a lot of wiggle room but I stuck with the main points. Louis, Bucky, and Clint and people who genuinely like each other. I wanted to keep this strictly fluffy but I couldn't resist a teeny action sequence to give our boys a bit of hurt/comfort. I hope you like it!
> 
> Title due to the archery class I took the other day and an ode to Kate Bishop.

The front door slamming against the wall startles Louis awake. The dogs must’ve been barking already but it’s the sudden noise that propels Louis off of the couch. His back is aching but he quickly forgets it when he sees Bucky, all but carrying an unconscious Clint on his back over the threshold. The sight triggers a very specific memory that involved much more blood and a lot less annoyance on Bucky’s face. Bucky catches Louis’ worried eyes and shakes his head immediately. 

“He’s fine, just fell asleep on the way back. He couldn’t sleep the entire time.”

Louis makes to shush him before noticing that Clint doesn’t have his hearing aids in. He opts for keeping the dogs away from the pair of them instead as Bucky heads upstairs. 

Once the dogs are settled for the night, Louis follows suit to their bedroom and finds Bucky struggling to get Clint out of his tactical gear. He wordlessly hops onto the bed and helps Bucky wiggle Clint’s shoes and pants off. And as much as all three of them would probably rather that Clint forgo his shirt as well, Louis and Bucky silently agree to leave it. Clint curls up straight after they manage to get his bottoms off, and reaches out for Louis in his sleep, giving a pained groan. Before Louis can even ask–

“Cuts and bruises,” Bucky says as he undresses. “He’ll be whining about it tomorrow.”

Louis nods. Clint complaining means that it isn’t really that serious. It’s when he’s silent about his injuries, insisting that he’s fine when he’s clearly not, that they need to worry. 

“Everything go okay?”

Louis settles into the middle of the California king bed, leaving room for Bucky to occupy his other side, closest to the window. Bucky likes to be woken by the sunlight, Clint likes to be closer to the door. Louis feels safest in between them. 

“Yeah.” Bucky sighs. “Are _you_ okay? I know we didn’t really talk about when we have to go before… Did you eat?”

As soon as the bed dips, Louis’ arms are around Bucky’s waist, pulling him in. It was hard, and worrisome, and Bucky probably saw right through all of Louis’ fake-calm text messages that he sent to both of their phones. It’s been five days since the call came in. Not exactly the longest mission the two have ever been on, but it’s the first time they’ve been away from Louis. A quinjet had landed in Louis’ backyard, scooped up Bucky and Clint and left him with nothing but the dogs. And Alpine. Louis doesn’t comment on the prelude to the conversation that neither of them want to have right now, especially while Clint is unconscious. 

“Contrary to popular belief I _can_ feed myself whilst Chef Barnes is away at work.”

“I’m guessing you ran out of places to order from around yesterday afternoon?”

Louis smothers his laugh in Bucky’s stomach. 

“Oh fuck off,” he says playfully, “Fine. You can’t ever leave me that long again.”

Clint whimpers behind them. Louis turns over, pushes the hair off of Clint’s sweaty forehead and waits for his eyes to open.

He hums. “Lou?” It’s slightly louder than he probably means it to be. His bleary eyes fall on Louis, then he smiles softly. “Hey. I’m gonna close my eyes so I can’t hear you but hi. Missed you.”

Louis gently tugs on his hair and he gets the hint, shuffling up the bed towards him and Bucky, tangling himself around Louis’ smaller torso while Louis settles back under Bucky’s arm.

“Needy,” Louis mumbles.

Bucky snorts. “You’re one to talk.”

He’s not wrong.

 

Louis wakes up to Clint sprawled across his back, still out cold. The space where Bucky was is empty and cold. He’s probably been up for hours; the heaviness of Louis’ eyes means it’s past noon. He turns over, purposely jostling Clint as much as he can. Eventually, Louis gets swatted at. He yanks the covers off of both of them in retaliation. He never thought he’d find someone that was less of a morning person than Zayn, but here he is, once more having to be the voice of reason. What’s worse is his voice is actually useless in this situation, so there’s nothing Louis can do but shake Clint until he realizes that actually waking up is the better alternative.

“I’m _sleeping_.”

Louis taps Clint’s face so that he opens his eyes and can read Louis’ lips. 

“Get up. Breakfast. Big day.”

“Big wha–?” Then his eyes widen. “Oh no.”

Clint is out of bed and out of the room before Louis can so much as blink. That was more effective than he was an anticipating. He snatches Clint’s hearing aids from where Bucky left them on the bedside table as he hears a squeal from downstairs. The dogs start kicking up a fuss, booming voices traveling across the house while Louis’ bare feet meet the icy kitchen tiles. 

“Oh, for the love of God,” Bucky is saying. He’s got a mixing bowl in his arms and is trying to fend of two large dogs and a tired, clingy Clint Barton. “Louis! Please help. We seem to have adopted a third dog. Can you get the coffee pot going?”

Louis wrinkles his nose at the mention of coffee, but obeys. He slips Clint his hearing aids on his way by, and the moment they’re switched on Clint begins his whining. 

“ _Bucky._ You’re supposed to give me a morning kiss. You’re breaking tradition.”

Louis watches with a soft smile as Clint tries to wrap his arms around Bucky, while Bucky continues his mixing with his back to Clint. Bucky should know better; that’s only grounds for Clint’s arms to make their way around his waist from behind. Louis calls the dogs over, giving Lucky a pat on the head and letting the wrestling go on for a moment more. 

“Alright, come here,” he finally intervenes, “I’ll give you _two_ kisses if you let Bucky make breakfast without incident. God knows these dogs don’t need any more raw pancake batter in their systems.”

Bucky snorts when Clint detaches himself from his back and launches himself at Louis, who nearly loses his balance. 

Louis frowns at Bucky over Clint’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t be making breakfast, anyway. It’s your birthday, we should be treating you.”

“A birthday treat,” Bucky protests while pouring batter into a pan, “Would be me making breakfast for my boys after not being home in nearly a week. That’s what I want for my birthday.”

But what Bucky gets for his birthday is the sound of glass shattering and the kitchen suddenly filled with a cloud of smoke. Louis freezes, not a single emotion registering until he’s grabbed by the arm and dragged backwards into the house. The dogs are barking and he can’t see anything through the smoke and he can’t breathe and it hits him all at once and he’s _panicking_. It takes him a minute to recognize Clint’s voice in his ear over the sounds of the dogs and what are probably gunshots. 

Louis wouldn’t know. He’s never heard gunshots before.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay.” They’re inside the cupboard and Louis can’t see a thing. Clint’s using his body as a shield over Louis, his voice bordering on a whimper. “Are you hurt? Are you–”

Louis nods redundantly. “I’m okay. Where’s Bucky?”

“He’s–” Everything goes quiet outside and the cupboard door is yanked open, revealing a battered and frazzled Bucky. “There he is.”

“We have to go,” Bucky says gruffly. “Clint, grab your gear, I’m gonna call Tony.” His voice softens when he looks at Louis. “Can you round up the pets, please?”

Louis nods. 

Clint leaves the cupboard first and disappears upstairs with Bucky behind him. Louis doesn’t even bother taking a proper look at the kitchen; he doesn’t want to know. He makes a beeline for the living room and manages to herd Alpine into his cat carrier without incident. The dogs come bounding in at the sound of leashes jangling together. Louis sits on the sofa, gripping the leashes tight in his hand while Alpine whines softly beside him, and waits for Clint and Bucky to return. 

“Hey.” It’s Bucky, suddenly by his side and he doesn’t know how long it’s been. “Come on. We gotta to go.”

+

“Hey are you okay?”

Louis releases his painfully tight grip on the sofa. It’s his first time in the famed Avengers tower and he can barely take a deep enough breath to be aware of his surroundings. He turns from where he was looking out the window at Manhattan laid before him, hand stilling on Clifford’s head in his lap. 

“Hm? Yeah. I’m alright. You?”

Clint grimaces. “I’m really sorry. You shouldn’t have to be dealing with this. We- we thought that– It wasn’t–”

“It’s okay. Actually, no. You don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault. It’s not Bucky’s fault. It just is, and I’m here and I’m okay. We’re all okay and that’s all that matters.”

Clint moves so suddenly that Louis barely notices before he’s being wrapped in a bone crushing hug. 

“Jeez, I’m sorry. I should be the one comforting you. I just can’t stand the thought of you being in danger because of us. Because of _me_.” Clint’s voice drops to a whisper. “I love you so much and I can’t lose you.”

When Clint’s like this it’s easy to forget that he has seven years and several inches on Louis. He’s so earnest and open in his fears and it makes Louis’ protective instincts flare up like nothing else. Louis may not be the guy you want next to you during a fight, but he sure can be the guy you come to afterwards when you need some good old fashioned cuddles and comfort. So Louis hugs Clint back just as tight, tangles his fingers in his blond hair and waits for the tension to drain from them both. Bucky finds them like that, and runs his fingers through Clint’s hair as well.

“We’re gonna have to stay here for a while,” he mumbles, almost incoherent. Louis might’ve missed it if he weren’t so used to Bucky’s aversion to enunciating. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh man, not you too. Come here.” 

Louis pulls away from Clint and yanks Bucky down by the hem of his shirt so that he’s sandwiched between them. Clint’s forehead drops onto Bucky’s metal shoulder with a _thunk_ that they’ve finally all stopped flinching at.

“Look at me,” Louis says, waiting until Bucky to meet his eyes. “No one got hurt. That’s _all that matters_.” He frowns. “I’m sorry that your birthday was ruined.”

Bucky shrugs. “Just another birthday. I’ve had like… a million of them.”

“It’s still your special day,” Clint agrees. “We had a whole thing planned and now we’re stuck here all the way across the country and can’t even _do_ them. Can the bad guys like, get a calendar? Or do a Google search?”

“You guys really didn’t–” Bucky cuts himself off, takes a second to get his thoughts in order. “Thank you. For whatever it was going to be. I appreciate it. There’s still time today, if you wanted to do something. But we don’t have to.”

“I’m sure Tony could get us a cake,” Clint notes excitedly. “ _Oh._ Do you think he’d get a Cake Boss cake? That’d be so awesome.”

As they discuss cake ideas, Louis’ hand drifts that spot on Bucky’s hip that he always finds it resting on. It’s almost subconscious, the way he seeks out that point of contact, but it always succeeds in reassuring them both. Clint’s hand rests over his, and after a moment, Bucky’s does as well. Then it’s quiet. 

“Anchor points,” Clint says gently. “That’s what you guys are.”

Bucky smiles. “Is that archery lingo for _I love you_?”

“It is, actually, and I say it even less often so you should be honored.”

Louis never thought that the first time he’d be in the Avengers tower would be after his house got smoke bombed and shot up. Even after eight years in the music industry, six years as a celebrity, and three years as a father, his life still fails to make sense. Perhaps he should be used to the abnormalities by now, and maybe he should start embracing them as they come. But all he’s ever craved is a bit of normalcy. And every time he finds himself longing for a life that doesn’t send him reeling, he remembers. He remembers that he wouldn’t have these two if it weren’t for this crazy life. And he’ll take them however he can get them. 

“We are. Aren’t we, Bucky.”

“Yes, alright, we’re very honored. You’re our anchor point, too.”

Clint hums happily. Then he frowns. 

“Aw, man, I haven’t even had coffee yet.”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr post](https://nightwideopen.tumblr.com/post/182216642664/anchor-points-by-nightwideopen-for)


End file.
